‘It’d keep Maurie awake.’ They laughed harder. ‘Have you got any food in this place? Some board games perhaps? I’m not ready to leave yet.’
Piper pointed to the cupboard behind the driver’s seat. ‘Grab the Uno cards!’
Chapter 9
Emmett held his breath as he squeezed the piping bag, letting a ribbon of white icing trace the line of the gingerbread house roof.
‘You finally got that thing to stand up on its own,’ Piper said as she bounced past where he was sitting at the dining table and into the kitchen, wearing a white shirt and denim shorts that made him struggle to concentrate on the next line of icing.
He let out a chuckle at the wonder in her voice. Things had been painfully comfortable between them since their conversation about Heath almost a week ago. Painful for Emmett, in the way he thought about holding her to him whenever she was around but never acted on it. Comfortable because she looked happier than he’d seen her since she’d arrived. He smiled at the memory of spotting Piper and Maddie laughing in the back of the Kombi, music blaring and Uno cards flying when he’d driven past them in the hospital car park after his shift had finally ended. She’d told him later about the phone call with Heath and while Emmett was still pissed at her ex for the situation he’d landed Piper in, he could definitely understand how he’d gotten there. Emmett had seen more than his own fair share of death and wandered down the path of what if.
‘This one is up and staying up. I’ve had enough gingerbread to last me five years.’
‘That’s specific.’ She spun around the kitchen, humming a tune he didn’t recognise but which sounded a lot like a Christmas carol. He much preferred it over the sad, grungy shit she’d listened to when she’d first moved in. The melody rose and fell in her throat. Emmett closed his eyes against the beautiful sound. Shit, he was in trouble.She’s Carter’s sister. You grew up with her. She just got out of a long-term relationship.So many reasons not to go there.
‘Coffee?’
His head jerked up at her question. ‘How can you be drinking coffee? It’s four in the afternoon.’
‘You don’t have choir practice tonight on top of an early morning. Plus, I got covered in vomit from a single mum with a debilitating migraine while Greta got to cuddle her six-month-old baby.’
‘Was that Reggie?’
Piper raised a brow at him as she poured milk into her mug. ‘How did you guess that?’
‘Small town. She’s been getting those migraines for a while now and with three kids to manage on her own, she’s not able to rest properly, so they escalate until she literally can’t go on and is forced to ask for help.’
‘Why doesn’t she ask for help before it gets that bad? There’s plenty of people around who’d look after the children for her.’
‘Pride. She didn’t even tell anyone that West had taken off until she went into labour with Noah and was so busy sorting out someone to care for the twins that she birthed in the back of the ambulance with no pain relief.’
‘Wow, tough woman.’ Piper tapped a teaspoon on the lip of her mug after stirring its contents. She put her mug on the tabletop before placing her hand on his shoulder to hold her balance while she settled on the chair next to him.
It was the briefest of touches, one that, before their hug, he wouldn’t have thought twice about, but damn if his skin didn’t seem to sizzle. Emmett cleared his throat and focused on piping the final line along the roof edge.
‘Want to help me decorate?’ he asked, eyeing the bags of Smarties he’d bought for the roof, the strips of liquorice to make windows and the sprinkles to go wherever there was room. Simple yet hopefully effective and colourful.
‘I don’t know … having outside help has got to be considered cheating.’
‘I really wish you’d stop accusing me of that.’ He playfully narrowed his eyes at her, making her laugh. That really was the best sound. ‘It could be a joint entry.’
‘Uh-uh. I’m not making you sing half the choir songs, am I? You’re doing this on your own.’ She sipped on her coffee, a cute yet smug look on her face.
Emmett picked up a handful of Smarties and started dropping them along the lines of white icing. Piper frowned.
‘What?’ he asked, wearily.
‘You know you could put the colours in some kind of pattern. You might get points for that.’
Emmett rolled his eyes but didn’t make any changes to his haphazard selection as he continued to line the roof. ‘I thought getting outside help was cheating?’
‘Just a suggestion. I thought you wanted to win?’
‘When did I say anything about winning?’
Piper scoffed. ‘Please. You and Carter always had to win when we were kids. Nothing else mattered to you two other than who could run the fastest or the furthest, shoot the most hoops, kick the most conversions, score the most tries. Didn’t you keep score in a notebook, so you knew which one of you was up? Pretty sure you had Carter in everything but the footy kicks. It’s not changed for him, and I struggle to think it’s changed for you.’
‘It has,’ he said, grabbing another handful of Smarties with slower movements. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I’d still prefer to be up the winning end than the other, but when you spend months caring for the one you love most on the planet, only to watch them slip away, it makes you appreciate what truly matters.’